I have just noticed that at least one of the Green Party candidates for Stroud Green ward at these elections doesn't seem to be very confident about her chances of getting elected.
Jayne Forbes is standing for election in Stroud Green here in Haringey next Thursday, but at the same time she is also standing for election in South Bermondsey ward in Southwark. She's also standing for election to Parliament in Barking on the same day... wonder where she will be spending polling day??
There's nothing illegal about standing for election in more than one place - and it's not unusual for councillors to be parliamentary candidates in different constituencies. However, it is unusual for candidates to stand for two completely different councils on the same day though. Presumably if she was confident of winning Stroud Green she wouldn't also be standing in Southwark?
Still, perhaps the reason for the Greens' lack of confidence in winning Stroud Green is that they finished a distant third in Stroud Green ward last time. In the 2006 elections, the Lib Dems won the ward from Labour - electing my Lib Dem colleagues Richard Wilson, Ed Butcher and Laura Edge.
You can see the full results for Stroud Green (and all the other Haringey wards) by looking up the official council figures here. But what it boils down to is that the average vote for each party's candidates was as follows:
Lib Dem - - - 1569Labour - - - 900Green - - - 515Tory - - - 196
So, next Thursday the voters of Stroud Green have a simple choice: the hard-working Lib Dem team (Cllr Richard Wilson, Cllr Ed Butcher and our great new candidate Katherine Reece) or the Labour candidates who would prop up the current council which has run Haringey for four decades (or tried to, anyway).
The Green Party can't win in Stroud Green. I certainly respect anyone's right to vote out of principle for a party that can't win, but anyone who wants to finally see the back of Haringey Labour needs to vote for the Lib Dems as the only opposition that can make that dream a reality.
The make-up of Haringey Council was 42 Labour and 15 Lib Dem in 2002, at the last election in 2006 we slashed that majority right down, with 30 Labour and 27 Lib Dems (again, no Greens or Tories). In fact, there haven't been any Tories elected to Haringey since 1998 and voting for them or the Greens just risks letting Labour squeak back in.
If we win Stroud Green and continue to make gains like we did last time then the Lib Dems will end four decades of Labour control in Haringey.
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